Strength of a Leader (Working Title)
by TheSilverboar
Summary: What if someone besides Annabeth was taken by Thorn in 'The Titan's Curse? What if there was a demigod in the hunt who had a connection to Percy? Will Percy prove he has the strength of a leader? (Poor summary i know but it makes more sense if you read)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I've never seen anyone do a Percy Jackson story like this and thought it might be a good idea. This begins in the third book right after Thalia did used the mist in the beginning.**

The Strength of a Leader (Working Title)

Chapter One

-Percy-

He could feel the teachers' eyes on their backs but walked closely to Thalia and asked in a low voice, "How did you do that finger-snap thing?".

"You mean the Mist? Hasn't Chiron shown you how to do that yet?" the daughter of Zeus asked surprised.

An uncomfortable lump formed in his throat at the question, Chiron was our head trainer at camp but he'd never shown me anything like that. Why had he shown Thalia and not me? Faintly he noticed Thalia wince at his expression but before she could open her mouth to say anything else Grover hurried us over to a door that had the word 'GYM' written on the glass which he could read easily even with dyslexia, "That was close!" Grover said. "Thank the gods you got here!".

Annabeth and Thalia both hugged Grover while he gave him a big high five. It was good to see him after so many months, he'd gotten a little taller and had sprouted a few more whiskers, but otherwise he looked like he always did when he passed for human including the red cap on his curly brown hair to hide his goat horns, baggy jeans and sneakers with fake feet to hide his furry legs and hooves. He was wearing a black T-shirt that took me a few seconds to read. It said WESTOVER HALL: GRUNT. I wasn't sure whether that was Grover's rank or maybe just the school motto.

"So what's the emergency?" he asked after a moment.

Grover took a deep breath before responding seriously "I found two.".

"Two half-bloods?" Thalia asked, amazed, "Here?".

Grover nodded and he knew why this was so serious, finding one half-blood was rare enough. This year, Chiron had put the satyrs on emergency overtime and sent them all over the country, scouring schools from fourth grade through high school for possible recruits. These were desperate times. We were losing campers. We needed all the new fighters we could find. The problem was, there just weren't that many demigods out there.

"A brother and a sister," Grover told them, "they're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though and I need help.".

"Monsters?" he asked, fingering his pen/sword Riptide.

One," Grover looked nervous "and he suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!".

Grover looked at Thalia desperately, he tried to not feel upset by that, he was used to Grover turning to _him_ for the answers in these kind of situations but he knew that Thalia had been given authority. It wasn't just because her dad was Zeus either, even though that was the biggest reason. Thalia had been given more training in more areas by Chiron, as she had shown only minutes before, and had more experience than the rest of them fending off monsters in the real world.

"Right," Thalia said taking over, "these half-bloods are at the dance?" and when Grover nodded she continued "Then let's dance. Who's the monster?".

"Oh," Grover said, and looked around nervously, "you just met him. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn.".

Weird thing about military schools: the kids go absolutely nuts when there's a special event and they get to be out of uniform. I guess it's because everything's so strict the rest of the time, they feel like they've got to overcompensate or something. There were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each other's faces, or trying to strangle each other with the crepe-paper streamers taped to the walls. Girls moved around in football huddles, the way they always do, wearing lots of makeup and spaghetti-strap tops and brightly colored pants and shoes that looked like torture devices. Every once in a while they'd surround some poor guy like a pack of piranhas, shrieking and giggling, and when they finally moved on, the guy would have ribbons in his hair and a bunch of lipstick graffiti all over his face. Some of the older guys looked more like me, uncomfortable, hanging out at the edges of the gym and trying to hide, like any minute they might have to fight for their lives. Of course, in his case, it was true.

"There they are." Grover nodded toward a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers, "Bianca and Nico DiAngelo.". The girl wore a floppy green cap, like she was trying to hide her face and the boy was obviously her little brother. They both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. The boy was shuffling some kind of trading cards. His sister seemed to be scolding him about something. She kept looking around like she sensed something was wrong.

Annabeth turned to Grover and asked, "Do they… I mean, have you told them?".

Grover shook his head in the negative and responded "You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger.".

"So let's grab them and get out of here." He suggested.

He started forward, but Thalia put her hand on his shoulder. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn, had slipped out of a doorway near the bleachers and was standing near the di Angelo siblings. He nodded coldly in our direction. His blue eye seemed to glow.

Judging from his expression, he guessed Thorn hadn't been fooled by Thalia's trick with the Mist after all. He suspected who we were and he was just waiting to see why we were here.

"Don't look at the kids," Thalia ordered firmly "we have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off the scent.".

"How?" Grover asked confused.

"We're three powerful half-bloods. Our presence should confuse him. Mingle. Act natural. Do some dancing. But keep an eye on those kids." Thalia explained to the Satyr.

"Dancing?" Annabeth asked sounding a little surprised.

Thalia nodded. Before cocking her ear to the music and made a face, "Ugh. Who chose the Jesse McCartney?".

Grover looked hurt at that statement "I did.".

"Oh my gods, Grover. That is so lame. Can't you play, like, Green Day or something?" Thalia asked annoyed.

"Green who?" Grover asked confused.

"Never mind. Let's dance." Thalia said rolling her eyes.

"But I can't dance!" Grover bleated out.

"You can if I'm leading," Thalia said firmly, "Come on, goat boy.". Grover yelped as Thalia grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor against all protests.

Annabeth smiled faintly at the scene and when he cocked an eyebrow she blushed and explained "It's cool to have Thalia back.".

Annabeth had grown taller than him since last summer, which he found kind of disturbing. She used to wear no jewelry except for her Camp Half-Blood bead necklace, but now she wore little silver earrings shaped like owls ,the symbol of her mother Athena. She pulled off her ski cap, and her long blond hair tumbled down her shoulders. It made her look older, for some reason.

"So…" he tried to think of something to say. Act natural, Thalia had told us. When you're a half-blood on a dangerous mission, what the heck is natural? "Um, design any good buildings lately?"

Annabeth's eyes lit up, the way they always did when she talked about architecture, "Oh my gods, Percy. At my new school, I get to take 3-D design as an elective, and there's this cool computer program…".

She went on to explain how she'd designed this huge monument that she wanted to build at Ground Zero in Manhattan. She talked about structural supports and facades and stuff, and he tried to listen. He knew she wanted to be a super architect when she grew up, she loves math and historical buildings and all that, but he hardly understood a word she was saying.

The truth was he was kind of disappointed to hear that she liked her new school so much. It was the first time she'd gone to school in New York and he'd been hoping to see her more often. It was a boarding school in Brooklyn, and she and Thalia were both attending, close enough to Camp Half-Blood that Chiron could help if they got in any trouble. Because it was an all-girls school, and I was going to MS-54 in Manhattan. He had only seen them twice since they left Camp.

Yeah, uh, cool," he said, "So you're staying there the rest of the year, huh?".

Her face got dark. "Well, maybe, if I don't…".

"Hey!" Thalia called to us. She was slow dancing with Grover, who was tripping all over himself, kicking Thalia in the shins, and looking like he wanted to die. At least Grover's feet were fake. He on the other hand lacked an excuse for being clumsy. "Dance, you guys!" Thalia ordered. "You look stupid just standing there.".

He looked nervously at Annabeth, then at the groups of girls who were roaming the gym, "Well?" Annabeth asked.

"Um, who should I ask?" he asked nervously.

She punched him in the gut but he could tell she was amused "Me, Seaweed Brain." She growled playfully.

"Alright, alright." He muttered chuckling "No need to hit me Sis.".

So we went onto the dance floor, and he looked over to see how Thalia and Grover were doing things. Hesitantly he put one hand on Annabeth's hip while she clasped his other hand like she was about to judo throw him.

"I'm not going to bite," she told him with a smirk "honestly Percy. Don't you guys have dances at your school? And what was with the 'Sis' comment?".

"There are dances," he admitted "but I've never actually danced at one for two reasons. And as for the 'sis' thing, well I feel that we have a pretty good sibling like bond. I've always wanted a sister and I've found that in you. We look out for each other and we always have each other's backs.".

"Well _bro_," Annabeth put a great deal of teasing inflection on the word 'bro' "most of the Camp seems to think we're meant to be a couple. And what reasons would prevent you from dancing?".

Blushing in embarrassment he looked down at his feet, "Well for one I can't dance." He admitted "And the other is that no girl at my school would be caught dead near me.".

"Then I'll just have to teach you to dance later." She stated firmly before giving him a smirk that sent chills down his spine "And maybe get you a girlfriend from the Aphrodite Cabin.".

"Oh please don't!" he pleaded "I'll never hear the end of gossip and fashion!" which just made Annabeth giggle. They danced around for a few minutes before he asked "What were you saying earlier? Are you having trouble at school or something?".

She pursed her lips at the question before answering "It's not that. It's my dad.".

"Uh-oh." He knew Annabeth had a rocky relationship with her father, "I thought it was getting better with you two. Is it your stepmom again?".

Annabeth sighed before elaborating, "He decided to move. Just when I was getting settled in New York, he took this stupid new job researching for a World War One book. In San Francisco!" She said this the same way she might say 'Fields of Punishment' or 'Hades' gym shorts'.

"So he wants you to move out there with him?" he asked.

"To the other side of the country," she said miserably, "And half-bloods can't live in San Francisco. He should know that.".

"What? Why not?" he asked confused having not heard that before.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at the question, probably thinking that he was kidding, "You know. It's right there!".

"Oh," he said, he had no idea what she was talking about, but didn't want to sound stupid, "So… you'll go back to living at camp or what?".

"It's more serious than that, Percy. I… I probably should tell you something." She took in a shaky breath before suddenly freezing, "They're gone.".

"What?" he asked before having a sinking feeling and followed her gaze, the bleachers. The two half-blood kids, Bianca and Nico, were no longer there. The door next to the bleachers was wide open. Dr. Thorn was nowhere in sight.

"We have to get Thalia and Grover!" Annabeth looked around frantically. "Oh, where'd they dance off to? Come on!"

She ran through the crowd and he was about to follow when a mob of girls got in his way. He spent a good bit of time to maneuver around them and not get dragged off and by the time he was free Annabeth had disappeared. He turned a full circle, looking for her or Thalia and Grover. Instead, he saw something that chilled his blood.

About fifty feet away, lying on the gym floor, was a floppy green cap just like the one Bianca di Angelo had been wearing. Near it were a few scattered trading cards. Then I caught a glimpse of Dr. Thorn. He was hurrying out a door at the opposite end of the gym, steering the di Angelo kids by the scruffs of their necks, like kittens.

He still couldn't see Annabeth and was about to run off and look for her when he stopped, he remembered what Thalia had said to him in the entry hall, looking at me all puzzled when I asked about the finger-snap trick 'Hasn't Chiron shown you how to do that yet?', he thought about the way Grover had turned to her, expecting her to save the day.

He didn't really resent Thalia, even though she could be annoying at times, but he also knew that he didn't need her help to slay a monster and there wasn't time to find them anyway. Taking Riptide out of his pocket he ran after Dr. Thorn.

He followed their trail into the woods where he took a snowy path dimly lit by old-fashioned lamplights. "There is a clearing ahead," he heard Thorn say, "We will summon your ride.".

"What ride?" a voice he assumed was Bianca demanded. "Where are you taking us?".

"Silence, you insufferable girl!" Thorn snapped angrily.

"Don't talk to my sister that way.'" Nico yelled furious, the kid's voice might have quivered but he was impressed with the guts the boy showed.

"Halt." Thorn snarled after a moment and, crouching down, he saw that the woods had opened up. We'd reached a cliff overlooking the sea. At least, he sensed the sea was down there, hundreds of feet below. He could hear the waves churning and he could smell the cold salty froth. But all he could see was mist and darkness. Thorn shoved the two children towards the edge of the cliff where they landed in the snow before pulling something from under his coat. At first he thought it was a switchblade, but it was only a phone. He pressed the side button and said, "The package, it is ready to deliver.".

"Where are you taking us?" Bianca demanded scared.

Dr. Thorn's mouth twisted with distaste at the girl, "You have no idea what is happening you silly little girl. I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you.".

"The General?" Nico asked confused "Who's the General?".

Thorn looked toward the horizon. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."

He turned and saw a light in the distance, a searchlight over the sea followed by the chopping sound of helicopter blades getting louder and closer. Knowing that he didn't have much time he uncapped riptide before running out of the area he was hiding in to attack Thorn. Thorn was surprisingly fast though and was able to doge his strike before shooting some sort of spike into his shoulder making him fall to his knees in pain.

Gritting his teeth he shot up and struck again, managing to lop off whatever threw the spike, a tail he realized, at the tip so that it couldn't shoot anymore. Roaring in pain the creature struck him across the face, knocking him back into the snow and Riptide off the cliff.

"Ah," Thorn sneered "I was hoping that one of you would show up. Now behave yourself Perseus Jackson but if you do not, well… there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."

"The Great what?" he asked, anything to keep him talking while trying to figure out a plan.

"The stirring of monsters." Dr. Thorn smiled evilly, "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!".

Before he could react he heard running and grinned, knowing that the others had found him, Thorn's yelling had probably helped. Thalia burst out of the tree line with her shield and spear out yelling "For Zeus!" making him roll his eyes.

"Yield!" the monster roared at seeing them.

"Never!" Thalia yelled from across the field. She charged the monster, and for a second, he thought she would run him through. But then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from behind us. The helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs. It was a sleek black military-style gunship, with attachments on the sides that looked like laser-guided rockets. The helicopter had to be manned by mortals, but what was it doing here? How could mortals be working with a monster? The searchlights blinded Thalia, and the manticore swatted her away with its tail. Her shield flew off into the snow. Her spear flew in the other direction.

"No!" he ran out to help her and tried to attack the monster with his fists until Riptide returned but the creature just jabbed at the spike, the tail still regrowing, that was still imbedded in his shoulder making him fall to his knees in pain.

Dr. Thorn laughed. "Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes.". We were trapped between a monster and a fully armed helicopter. We had no chance.

Then he heard a clear, piercing sound: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods. The manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades. "No," Dr. Thorn said. "It cannot be…".

His sentence was cut short when something shot past him like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn's shoulder causing the monster to stagger back, wailing in agony.

"Curse you!" Thorn cried. He unleashed spikes from a regrown tail, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like the arrows had intercepted the spikes in midair and sliced them in two, but his eyes must've been playing tricks on him. No one, not even Apollo's kids at camp, could shoot with that much accuracy.

The manticore pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy. Then the archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, was about eighteen. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows. They advanced on the manticore with determined expressions.

"The Hunters!" Annabeth cried in shock.

Next to me, Thalia muttered, "Oh, wonderful.", the distaste clear in the voice of the daughter of Zeus but he didn't take the time to ask what she meant by it.

One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery colored skin. Unlike the other girls, she had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair, so she looked like some kind of Persian princess, "Permission to kill, my lady?" the girl asked. He couldn't tell who she was talking to though because she kept her eyes on the manticore.

The monster wailed in outrage "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws.".

"Not so," another girl said, this one was a little younger than he was, maybe twelve or thirteen. She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail and strange eyes, silvery yellow like the moon. Her face was so beautiful it made him catch his breath, but her expression was stern and dangerous. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." She looked at the older girl with the circlet, "Zoe, permission granted.".

The manticore growled. "If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!" before he lunged at him and Thalia, knowing we were dazed.

"No.'" Annabeth yelled, and she charged at the monster.

"Get back, half-blood!" the girl with the circlet said, "Get out of the line of fire!"

But Annabeth leaped onto the monster's back and drove her knife into his mane. The manticore howled, turning in circles with his tail flailing as Annabeth hung on for dear life.

"Fire!" Zoe ordered loudly.

"No!" he screamed shooting to his feet but the Hunters let their arrows fly. The first caught the manticore in the neck. Another hit his chest. The manticore staggered backward, wailing, "This is not the end, Huntress! You shall pay!".

Thorn grabbed Thalia and Bianca, who had tried rushing the beast, in each hand and was about to jump off the cliff with them when he charged forward yelling angrily, "NO!" he screamed and punched the beast in the jaw, causing the surprised monster to lose its grip on Thalia and Bianca before he reached up and threw Annabeth off the monster. He was about to get out of the line of fire and let the Hunters kill it before the beast grabbed him and pulled him close, "You'll have to do!" the beast snarled before running to the cliff. When he noticed that Thorn was going to take another parting shot at one of the hunters, the eighteen year old one, he shot his elbow back with all his might into the creature's gut causing Thorn to stumble and the shot to go wide before he was pulled over the cliff and into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Strength of a Leader

Chapter 2

-Percy-

Groaning, he forced his eyes awake, groggy from being knocked out during the fall from the cliff. "Well, well, look who's awake." a voice he didn't recognize said condescendingly from his right causing him to spin, or at least try to before he dropped to his knees in pain from the spike wound in his shoulder.

"Who are you?" he spat angrily, his eyes flitting around for any source of water he could use to heal and get a power boost.

"I am Atlas," the voice said in amusement causing him to stiffen at the name he easily recognized "General of the Titan armies.".

"Then why am I not dead?" he demanded warily, looking now for an escape instead of a fight.

"Because you will be taking Luke Castellan's place under the Vault of the Sky," Atlas said calmly "the same place that he freed me from.".

"And I should do this why?" he asked in confusion "To me this is just punishment for the traitor.".

"Yes Jackson," the voice of Luke said from behind him, causing him to turn and see the treacherous son of Hermes being forced to his knees by what looked like a dark grey cyclone "that is probably what you would think. But we have a bit of leverage you just might want to be aware of."

"Bring the woman!" Atlas called before he could ask what leverage they were talking about, "We captured her the moment you were brought here." Atlas said with a smirk "Luke knew that you would be…less than cooperative.".

Before he could ask who they were talking about he froze, seeing a pair of Cyclopes dragging his mother forward as she struggled to get free. "Mom!" he yelled in shock, trying to force himself to rise despite the injuries that covered his body.

"Percy!" she yelled as she tried to break the Cyclopes' grip to get to him.

"You see young Perseus Jackson," Atlas said arrogantly "you have two very simple options here. The first is that you take Luke's place under the Vault of the Sky. The second is that we will kill your mother slowly and painfully while making you watch before doing the same to you.".

"Fine!" he said instantly, "I'll take the vault. But you have to swear upon the river Styx that neither you nor your armies will harm my mother and that you'll take her back to her home.".

"I swear upon the River Styx that once Perseus Jackson has taken the vault of the sky I shall send Sally Jackson back to her home and that neither I nor my armies will attack her. Atlas swore with a smirk as thunder sealed the oath and he began crawling over to the vault, ignoring his mother's protests and Atlas' laughs.

Getting to Luke he clawed up to a rough standing position and took part of the weight of the sky before Luke rolled out with a gasp or relief. "N-now you do your end of the deal." He grunted, trying to not cry out at the extra pain the weight put on his wounds.

"Of course Perseus, I am a Titan of my word." Atlas said with a smirk, the Titan snapping his fingers causing his to vanish with a flash of light, his last sight of her being her heartbroken eyes. "Now, we can't have you dying from those wounds." Atlas said with a smirk before the titan muttered a spell and he suddenly found himself standing in knee deep water that he instantly began healing his injuries and giving him extra energy. "That pool will constantly replenish," Atlas explained with a sadistic smirk "that way the pain will always be healing and coming in so you'll never grow numb to it.".

Snarling he rose up to his full height as he pushed up with all his strength, trying to hold the sky up as much as he could as he felt his muscles constantly being torn and worn by the weight only to be healed moments later by the water. "I will see you trapped here again Atlas," he snarled "and I will enjoy seeing you returned to your prison.".

"You will only be freed from there should we capture one of those pathetic Olympians," Atlas said with a dismissal snort before turning to leave "and even that is questionable with how entertaining you may prove to be.".

-Annabeth-

"P-Percy." she gasped out in shock, tears streaming from her eyes as she gazed at the cliff where she had just watched her best friend and practically brother get dragged down to save her. A yell of anger caused her to turn and see Grover punch a tree, denting the wood and causing its Dryad to pop its head out to protest only to gulp and shoot back inside when she saw Grover's furious glare.

"W-what just happened?" the girl they came to recruit, Bianca, asked in shock, the two new demigods staring in shock at where Percy had been dragged down.

"My best friend just got captured that's what." Grover snarled, a surprisingly feral look on the Satyr's face as the searcher began pacing back and forth angrily "And I am going to track down that bastard and tear him limb from limb!".

"Grover?!" Thalia gasped in shock at the Satyr's out of character declaration.

"Listen Thalia," Grover growled "you may be my friend but Percy is my brother. My loyalty is to him over you any day and I would march into Tartarus if it meant saving him.".

"As would I." she added, shakily rising to her feet as the hunters of Artemis marched over.

"Foolish boy." She heard the one she assumed to be Artemis mutter softly as they approached causing her to spin around and draw her knife in rage.

"Shut up you sorry excuse for a goddess!" she yelled at the shocked moon goddess "My brother just sacrificed himself to save us, by Hades he saved the life of one of your hunters, but all you do is sit there an insult!".

"My hunter didn't need saving," Artemis said with a scowl "and you would be wise to learn your place."

"Goddess or not you need to learn one important thing Artemis," Grover snarled, the satyr glaring scornfully at the goddess of the hunt "nobody insults Percy Jackson like that without having to deal with consequences.".

"And what would those be Satyr?" the Hunter with the circlet in her hair asked scornfully.

"Besides the fact that he's Poseidon's favored son?" Grover asked with a snort causing the hunter Percy had saved to stiffen "Most of the camp are loyal to Percy above several of the gods due to the simple fact that Percy would give his life for any one of us, he tries to protect us, and he's not afraid to talk back to you and the rest of your stuck up council. A habit I plan to start doing myself.".

"T-that boy was a son of Poseidon?" the eighteen year old hunter asked cautiously, the girl stepping forward and not showing the usual anger or arrogance of the rest of the hunt.

"Yes he was," she answered cautiously "why?".

At her words the girl dropped to her knees, a look of shock adorning the silver clad girl's features. "H-he's my little brother," the girl explained "I am Marina Deloque, daughter of Poseidon, and member of the hunt for the past two-hundred and thirty four years.".

"This doesn't matter right now!" Grover spoke up "Right now we have to explain what's going on to the Di Angelos, get them back to camp, and then save Percy.".

"An explanation would be nice!" the still confused Bianca exclaimed desperately "The sooner the better please!".

"Long story short the Greek gods are real and one of your parents is one," she explained simply as she forced herself to her feet "the Titans are starting a war to try and take over and are recruiting every demigod they can to their cause. Anyone that doesn't join them is killed and fed to their monsters.".

"A-and the guy who saved us?" Nico asked hesitantly.

"That was Percy Jackson," she explained softly, her tears flowing freely as she gazed at where her brother had gone "son of Poseidon and one of the strongest demigods in the world. He has beaten Ares in single combat, he's been to Hades and back and slain monsters most demigods need years of training to even have a hope of surviving against with next to no training at all.".

"He's just a male." Artemis tries to speak up with a snort only to shut up when she pointed her dagger at the goddess' throat with a snarl.

"Never," she growled "insult Percy in front of me.".

"She has a point Artemis," a new voice said, disapproval clear, as they turned to see a man wearing all golden clothes with golden hair and sky blue eyes "your 'hatred' of men is getting tiresome.".

"What are you doing here Apollo?" Artemis demanded angrily.

"I came here to make sure you didn't murder these demigods for pointing out your flaws," the sun god stated irritably "even Dad is upset with you right now. Percy not only saved his bolt a couple years ago but has now saved Thalia's life twice but you just go around insulting him and his sacrifice.".

"He's a male!" Artemis exclaimed.

"So am I!" Apollo screamed in anger, golden flames dancing across the god's visage "Are you going to vilify me just for not being born a girl? Are you going to try to shoot me on sight just because I don't have breasts? You're more than welcome to have your virgin oath, you're more than welcome to distrust men, but your hatred and attacks on men are getting on the last nerve of the council. Now I'm going to be sending these demigods to camp, you do whatever it is you wish to do with your hunters but I'd recommend you take some time to do some serious soul searching." The sun god said firmly before, with a snap of his fingers, her word exploded into light as she suddenly found herself on Half-Blood hill along with Thalia, Grover, Nico, and Bianca.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: In the poll this story was tied with Son of the Moon and I've decided, for now at least, to use this story. I will admit I was a little surprised as for a good while in the beginning 'The Meaning of Power' held the lead.**

Strength of a Leader

Chapter 3

-Grover-

Walking towards the Big House porch he kept his face resolute and cold, he knew what he had to do and by Pan he would see it done. Next to him Annabeth looked as determined as he was to save their brother. The two new campers, Nico and Bianca, were staring at him warily as his sudden change in personality probably frightened them but he couldn't let that sway him as he knew they would soon understand why he had changed so rapidly. Thalia's expression however that she didn't like his new attitude even if she was upset about Percy being taken but he…he couldn't go back to being the weak Satyr that he was before.

"Grover," Chiron said cheerfully as they approached "I see you've returned with the new demigods. Wait…where's Percy? Did he leave for his cabin or perhaps return home with his mother?".

Clenching his fist he stepped up in front of the Ancient Centaur and Dionysus before stating "Chiron…Lord Dionysus….I hereby turn in my resignation as a Searcher and Protector.".

"What?" Chiron demanded as Dionysus actually choked on the Diet Coke the god of madness had been drinking "Why?".

"Percy…" he slammed his fist into the oaken frame of the porch railing "he was captured by the Titans when he sacrificed himself to prevent Thalia, Annabeth, and Bianca from suffering the same fate." At this his gaze hardened and he let out a low, feral, growl "And I intend to bring my brother back even it if it means marching into Tartarus itself to spit in Kronos' eye.".

"And he won't be going alone," Annabeth said as she stepped up next to him "Percy is our brother and we're going to get him back. With, or without your approval.".

"Now see here you little brats," Dionysus began "you can't just-" before he slammed his fist onto the man's card table, cracking it in half as he growled.

"No, you listen here you pathetic excuse for a god." He snarled, the more animalistic instincts that he had always held back shining through "Percy is worth more to this camp than you could ever dream of being as he actually has the balls to fight for us. He's already shown that he's willing to risk his own life for us and now we're going to do the same.".

"You need my permission to leave." Dionysus snapped.

"No," he growled "we don't need anything from you. What you and most of the Olympians fail to realize Dionysus is that the gods _need_ us mortals. You need our prayers and sacrifice. Without us you'd fade to nothingness as it is our belief and praise that feeds you. If we had to all we'd have to do is stop sacrificing to you as you began to fade. You need us but we don't need you. We are forced to live in fear of not only the Titans but the so called 'just' Olympians who lord over us, demanding things that they don't deserve and threatening destruction upon us if we don't conform. I'd recommend that you start thinking about this…before our kind decides we're better off without you and let you fade.".

"If you go to try and recover that brat I'll kill you." Dionysus threatened him, the god clearly hoping to silence him out of desperation of the threat he had just delivered.

"No you won't," a new voice commanded as he turned to see Poseidon glaring at the wine god "as I won't allow it. As an Olympian I approve of this quest but you must meet a few conditions first.".

"And what would those be Lord Poseidon?" he asked, trying to be respectful to one of the few gods left that was worthy of it.

"I don't want you to go on this quest without the proper power and support so recruit those who can fight and are willing to go on this quest," Poseidon ordered "Artemis will be bringing her hunters here later today and Apollo hinted that when the Prophecy for the quest would be given that it would involve both Campers and Hunters so I'd suggest you bring along my daughter in their ranks.".

"Any other conditions my Lord?" he asked with a nod at the condition already given.

"Just spend a few days getting the kind of support you'll need to lead this quest," Poseidon said with a nod "and take this blessing from me. Just please….bring my son back to me.".

"I swear to it Lord Poseidon." He said with a nod as the god of the sea placed a hand upon his brow before he glowed with sea green energy and power rushed through him.

"Along with the blessing I have given you some sea based powers," Poseidon said with a nod "I have made it as if you were my son to an extent….now go save your brother.".

"Yes…father." He said with a nod before turning back to glare at a pale and shaking Dionysus. "Come on Annabeth," he said as Poseidon vanished into a sea mist "let's go. There are a few people I need to talk to.".

Seeing Annabeth nod he turned and made his way over to the forges and Arena where he figured the two he was trying to find would be. "Where are we going?" the voice of Nico asked as he glanced over his shoulder to see the two new demigods had followed them while Thalia stayed to report to Chiron.

"I'm going to go get a weapon," he told them "and then I'm going to talk to one of the best warriors in the camp bout some tips in how best to use it before we start recruiting for the quest.". Getting to the forge he entered it and his eyes locked in on his target, "Beckendorf!" he called out, the cheery smith turning to greet him only to freeze at the cold look in his eyes "I need a weapon.".

"A weapon?" the blacksmith asked in surprise "Why?".

"Percy was captured by the titans while trying to save me, Thalia, and Bianca from being captured ourselves." Annabeth said with a scowl as Beckendorf and every other smith in the smithy froze "We plan to get him back.".

Beckendorf paled for a moment before the man seemed ready to snap necks in his fury, "Stop all projects!" Beckendorf yelled, storming back over to the table where the cabin leader had just been working and knocked aside his own project which smashed against a wall "This takes priority! Nyssa! Go get me the Nemean Lion teeth! Harley! I need the highest quality celestial bronze you can find! Jake! Go to the Dryads and get the strongest wood you can find you can find for a base! The rest of you try to find anything we can to make this club as strong as possible! You'll have your weapon Grover, just bring back out leader.".

"I will Beckendorf," he promised resolutely before turning to Annabeth "let's go, I still need to find Clarisse.".

"W-what did that Percy guy do to earn that much respect and loyalty around here?" Bianca asked as they left the smithy.

"In his first summer here he recovered Zeus' Master bolt by travelling across the country with myself and Annabeth before descending into the Underworld and eventually besting Ares in single combat to win back the bolt and stop a god level war." He explained "Then this past summer he went into the sea of monsters where he saved my life and recovered the Golden Fleece, even besting the Cyclops Polyphemus in physical strength alone.".

"Di immortales," Annabeth cursed "Grover, we need to tell Tyson.".

Nodding he pointed to the arena "I'm going to go get Clarisse to agree to help train me, you go tell Tyson.".

"On it." Annabeth said with a nod "I'll see who else I can get to aide us as well." Before she took off running.

"Who's Tyson?" Nico asked as they entered the arena.

"Percy's half-brother," he explained "he's a cyclops at the bottom of the ocean learning blacksmithing in Poseidon's forges.". Seeing the daughter of the war god he marched over "Clarisse!" he yelled "Get your ass over here!".

"What is it Grover?" Clarisse demanded with a scowl "If this is another one of Percy's pranks that he roped you in on-".

"Percy's been captured by the Titans." He cut her off as she frozen before her eyes hardened.

"Explain!" she demanded angrily, Percy having won her respect and friendship after the Sea of Monsters.

"He saved Thalia, Annabeth, and Bianca here from being captured by a Manticore that worked for the Titans," he explained "and now the Titans have him. I leave as soon as possible on a quest to get him back. Beckendorf is building me a club right now for the quest but I need a warrior who isn't going to coddle me to train me how to fight with one, or at least as much as I can learn in a few days.".

"If three sword lessons can let Percy beat my dad then three straight days of lessons can help you survive," Clarisse agreed with a nod "give me an hour or two to scrounge up a practice weapon and then you're going to go through hell…just bring him back home.".

Nodding he turned to head back to the cabins to begin recruiting, getting to the commons just as an Apollo camper ran out of his ran out of the golden cabin screaming, "What's going on?" he demanded the camper.

"Just…had…vision…" the camper panted "I saw your threatening Dionysus and your plan to rescue Percy…and I saw which Titan has him specifically.".

"Who?!" he demanded as people began to yell in agreement, Annabeth having spread the word of what happened.

"Atlas," the camper gasped out "they forced Percy to take the Vault of the sky from Luke through a plan Luke came up with.".

"But the sky can only be forced on a Titan." Annabeth said in confusion, having run over at hearing about a vision of Percy.

"They captured Percy's mom and told Percy he could either watch them torture her to death before the same was done to him or he could take the sky from Luke." The Apollo camper spat in disgust as every demigod nearby was crowing for the traitor's blood.

Hearing a scream of rage he turned to see Annabeth rip her dagger away from her person, the dagger she got from Luke he realized, and threw it into a brazier as it melted in sacrifice to the gods. "I saw one more thing," the camper said seriously as they turned towards him "I don't know when the quest will be given but I saw who was on it. You were on it Grover, as was Annabeth, Thalia, a huntress of Artemis who looked about eighteen…and her." The Apollo camper said pointing at a shocked looking Bianca "I couldn't see how but I do know that she is incredibly important to Percy's future.".

"M-me?" the shocked girl asked only to gasp even more when a pitch black ethereal helm appeared over her and her brother.

"Yes my children," the familiar voice of Hades spoke up "Apollo spoke to me about the fact that while it is clouded, he can tell your future is tied with that of you Perseus. In what way we do not know but it is important. Percy saved your life Bianca, along with your brother's, in the past he recovered my own helm of darkness and spoke in my defense against my brother…I will see him recovered. Train hard my children, grow strong and protect our family. Zeus has agreed to take no action against you so long as you take none against the gods but we both agree, help to save Percy Jackson.".


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: In a recent posting I requested that people suggest a good fanfiction that I do a 'reading of' story for. I'm updating some of the rules for it. **

**It has to be a competed story**

**Harry Potter or Percy Jackson story**

**No slash**

**No lemons**

**No gender bending **

Strength of a Leader

Chapter 4

-Percy-

Groaning he glared at Atlas, sweat pouring off his body and into the pool of water that continually healed his muscles as they were torn apart and rebuilt constantly. With Atlas, the Titan had been under the weight so long without a healing factor the being couldn't grow any physically stronger as the beings muscles were destroyed beyond repair, keeping the Titan's strength on a lock while his own muscles were constantly being healed to optimal condition. In the few days he had been trapped under the sky he had seen his body begin to transform, going from a decently muscled and relatively fast swimmer's build to his muscles being harder than stone as be began bulking out, his body not only healing but gaining all the nutrients he needed from the water even if it did leave him hungry, thirsty, and exhausted as he got no food, sleep, or water.

"What do you want dipshit?" he asked the Titan who sat on a throne, smirking at him incessantly.

"We'll be having a new guest arriving soon to keep you company under there," Atlas said with a smirk "one of your precious Olympians was captured when trying to hunt something. Now all that's left is to decide whether or not to keep you under there, have her be put under, or keep you both under there.".

"A goddess can simply flash away you moron." He grunted as he tried to shift the sky slightly to stretch the muscles in his back.

"Only a Titan can flash away from this summit demigod," Atlas said with a snort "that is a magical defense that not even your precious 'Olympians' can overcome.".

In response he simply glared at the Titan that sat upon the throne, mentally cursing up a storm at whatever goddess had been captured as it meant he would lose his chance at escaping. Ever since Atlas had conjured the pool of water that constantly refilled itself he had been using the water to slowly grind into the mountain beneath him, digging tunnels and veins underneath the floor. He had to go slow at first, grinding small holes in the walls of the pool he stood in to create the veins but he had to keep them small enough that they wouldn't be noticed. He had been trying to create a large system of veins that could be used to force Atlas back under the sky so he could get out of it and escape but now he would have to give up that escape to rescue the goddess.

"Which goddess?" he growled out, trying to distract Atlas as he sped up his water grinding as much as he could without drawing attention to it "And how on earth did someone as stupid as you manage to capture her?".

"I captured you." Atlas pointed out in irritation.

"Thorn captured me," he pointed out "and I was more focused on rescuing my friends than anything else. And need I remind you of the whole Hercules 'shoulder pad' incident?".

"Silence!" Atlas yelled angrily, the Titan slamming his fist down onto the armrest on the Throne, cracking the armrest as flakes flew off.

"Boy for a straight guy you're dramatic." He said rolling his eyes, knowing that the angrier he got Atlas the less likely it would be that his efforts with the water would be noticed.

Right when it looked like Atlas was going to come over to try and attack him Luke crested the summit of the mountain, a pair of Laestrygonians trailing behind as they dragged one of the 'Hunters' he had seen when he was captured as he assumed the person being dragged was Artemis. "It looks like you're going to get a 'reprieve' from the sky boy," Atlas said with a glower "she can take your place while I beat some respect into you. Wake her." Atlas ended with an order to the two giants.

Grunting the Laestrygonians on the right backhanded Artemis as she yelled when the rough action woke her from unconsciousness. "Unhand me!" Artemis yelled the moment she was conscious and saw who was around her "How dare you lay your filthy paws on a goddess?!".

"Be silent little moon goddess," Atlas ordered "you and Jackson over there will be spending…shifts holding the Vault of the Sky. You're about to take your shift as I…give our young son of Poseidon a lesson in manners. And don't even bother trying to flash, the magics of this mountain prevent any but a Titan from doing so as long as they are on my summit.".

'_Come on,'_ he pleaded mentally at Atlas _'one more step, and…YES!'_. "Oi, Atlas!" he yelled over as Luke, Atlas, and the Laestrygonians turned towards him "Smile for the camera!" before he yelled and caused the veins he had dug to shoot out, each with a different effect and target. Two shot out as spears and pierced the giants through their skulls, turning the beasts to dust. The second vein came out as a blunted fist and slammed up into Luke castellan's Testicles as the traitor doubled over in pain, he would have killed the bastard but he knew that Annabeth, Grover, or Thalia deserved to be able to do that. His third vein rushed out and attacked Atlas's face, the water pouring down the Titan's throat and attempting to scramble the bastard's organs as more and more water rushed through his veins when the pool refilled them. The final vein though shot out and grabbed Artemis, pushing and carrying her off the edge of the mountain as he poured all of his will into it, eventually putting all of his focus on that vein as he flung Artemis outside of the field of magic that stopped flashing as he saw her disappear in a burst of silver.

Before he could resume using his water veins to attack Luke and Atlas again the Titan used some sort of spell to close up his veins and, from what he could tell of the new appearance of the pool, did something to prevent him from doing the same thing again. "Not bad boy," Atlas grunted the Titan stomping over, water dripping from the immortal's face and armor "but now you alone shall be trapped under the Vault.".

"Until I see you under here again." he said with a grin, grunting when Atlas punched him in the stomach as he felt his organs tear against his ribs only to heal again instantly thanks to the water.

"You shall remain under that prison always Jackson," Atlas snarled in his ear "when Lord Kronos wins the war I will have you made immortal to be trapped there for all of time.".

-Grover-

Growling he jumped to the side of a spear strike from Clarisse as he swung the club the Hephaestus cabin had made for him, snapping the basic training spear Clarisse had in half as he did so. The club was made out of a wood called 'Lignum Vitae', the hardest wood in the world which Chiron had brought to the camp forest years ago along with several rare or endangered plants and trees. The Dryad that lived inside it having willingly given up the wood for the weapon. Along with the wooden base the head was studded with four Nemean Lion fangs, two on each end, and had celestial bronze plates at certain places along with hilt wrapped in leather which was made from the hide of the Erymanthian Boar. **(AN: The club that was used in the 2014 Dwayne the Rock Johnson Hercules movie)**.

"Not bad Grover," Clarisse grunted as she tossed the broken weapon away "you think you're ready for this?".

"Ready or not I can't wait around anymore." He said with a snarl "I leave tomorrow along with the other questers, with or without a prophecy.".

"How's Percy's sister dealing with being chosen for the quest?" Clarisse asked as they walked down to the cabins "I doubt that the Hunters were too thrilled about it.".

"Some tried to shoot me, their lieutenant tried to stab me, and others threatened to have Artemis turn me into a Jackelope." He said with an uncaring shrug. "Those that aimed their bows at me were met with two Apollo bows in return, Annabeth put her new weapons at the Lieutenant's throat, and the ones that threatened to sick their goddess on me were threatened in return by Apollo who had been roped into dropping them off. Marina herself was more than willing to agree to the quest when she found out it was to rescue her brother, having her father insist that she go only added to that.".

"So it's you, Annabeth, this 'Marina' girl, Thalia, and the newbie Bianca?" Clarisse asked with a small scowl at not being able to come on the quest.

"I'm not going to go against the vision," he said shaking his head "but Bianca is a daughter of Hades and has been training constantly or the quest. We have to be careful though, while Silena may have confessed to Chiron about Luke coming to her to blackmail and threaten her for information we know about his 'main' spy but we don't know of any others.".

Getting to the cabins he said his farewells to Clarisse and walked over to where Annabeth was working with her new weapons that Nyssa had found for her in the shed of Hephaestus projects, a set of claws that would attach to the user's finger tips. Next to the daughter of Athena was Bianca who was shooting arrows at various targets with instructions from Marina while Nico launched them and Thalia could be seen sitting a distance away, the daughter of Zeus having been rather irritable since his change in personality.

Getting over to them he was about to open his mouth when a burst of gold light blinded him for a moment before it faded to reveal Apollo, "I have news about Percy!" the sun god said as he rushed over and the others straightened up.

"What happened?" he demanded urgently.

"He's being held on Othryss as we already knew," Apollo explained "but Artemis was captured and brought before them. The Titans have some sort of spell up over the mountain top so that only a Titan can flash in and out but Percy, somehow, drew from a source of water below the 'floor' of the mountaintop and attacked Atlas, Luke, and a couple monsters while sending Artemis flying outside of the boundary so she could escape.".

"He gave up his chance of escape," he said with a scowl "to save up your stuck up fool of a sister.".

Sighing Apollo ran his roughly through his hair "I know," the sun god said with a sigh, "but he sent her away and now she has refused to leave her palace ever since he saved her. I don't know if she's just throwing a hissy fit about being saved by a 'filthy male' or if she's in shock over it but she won't come out or talk to anyone. I came down here to give you your prophecy.".

Before he could respond Apollo's eyes turned green as the Green smoke of the Spirit of Delphi poured from the god's mouth, declaring:

"Five shall go west to the Hero in chains,

One shall be changed in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunter combined prevail,

The Titan's curse must one withstand,

And one shall risk all to live as their brother's hand."

Before the smoke was sucked back into the god, "Good luck," Apollo said seriously "and bring that Hero home.".

"Don't worry," he growled as he hefted his club "I plan to.".


	5. Chapter 5

Strength of a Leader

Chapter 5

-Percy-

Pain and power. That was all he felt anymore as he stood trapped under the vault of the sky. He felt the pain of having the weight of the world atop his shoulders, the never ending burden.

He felt the power that coursed through his veins and bolstered his muscles, the monstrous strength that filled him as he was torn and rebuilt continuously.

"Enjoying yourself Jackson?" the voice of Atlas asked, the Titan General swaggering over as he glared at the giant being.

"Yeah, I'm having the time of my life. Why don't you come do this and partake in all this fun?" he asked sarcastically.

Atlas laughed loudly at his statement, "Oh, this is why I keep you around demigod." The giant said, whipping away a tear of mirth, "I may change my mind yet about keeping you under there. I may have you immortalized so that I can simply keep you on a leash for the rest of time."

"You are really full of yourself you know?" he asked, shifting the weight of the vault with a grimace, feeling his muscles go through a particularly nasty tear which healed within seconds.

Ignoring the barb Atlas waved a hand, causing a giant mirror to appear "I figured you might like to enjoy watching parts of your little friend's quest."

"What…quest?" he groaned, glaring rebelliously at the ancient being.

"Why the quest to rescue you of course…or try to anyway. We both know that your friends have no chance of saving you from here." Atlas said with a laugh which quickly turned mocking "They actually sent a Satyr to lead the quest!"

"Grover." He whispered in shock before focusing on the mirror which showed Grover, Annabeth, Thalia, the older hunter he saved, and the new demigod girl Bianca all loading up into the Camp's white van, several other members of the hunt and Camp standing around the departing group. Some serious, and some furious.

He wished he was back at camp, he wished he was able to teach the new recruits how to wield a blade, see their shock when they saw Riptide for the first time, his sword still in his pocket. Atlas had known about the blade but had said that he should be allowed to carry it anyway, a taunting reminder that he was armed yet unable to do anything to save himself.

-Grover-

"Alright," he called out to the rest of the quest members as he slipped his club in its enchanted form of a collapsible baton into his pocket "everyone ready?"

"I am." Annabeth said seriously, the daughter of Athena having further increased her arsenal with a sword and shield, much like what Percy used, made for her by Tyson who was furious about Percy being missing. It was pretty shocking to him as he didn't know Tyson could do furious, sad yes but furious Tyson scared even Chiron.

"Yeah." Thalia said but he could tell she still wasn't all that happy, the girl had been in a bad mood since he and Annabeth had started changing due to Percy's kidnapping, the daughter of Zeus trying to get them to go back to the way they used to be.

"Hell yes." Marina said, the huntress gripping her bow tightly and looked ready to kill as several male campers backed away nervously.

"Shouldn't we bring another weapon for Percy when we get him out from under the vault?" Bianca asked nervously. The girl had flourished with her bow and dagger but wasn't as skilled with her powers which seemed to be her brothers forte.

"He has one." He assured the daughter of Hades "He has a sword named Anaklusmos, or Riptide, which always returns to his pocket in pen form. He uncaps it and it turns into its weapon form."

"Riptide?" the Lieutenant of the Hunters demanded, a leaf shaped bronze blade? With little studs around a domed pommel? The name of the weapon inscribed on both sides of the blade in Greek?"

"Yeah but…how did you know about that?" Annabeth asked in confusion as Chiron paled and looked about ready to intervene when the scowling huntress thrust her hand out and, with a flash, Riptide appeared in her hand.

"This sword is mine by right and I will not have it sullied by the hands of some filthy m-" the ancient huntress was cut off when Annabeth punched Zoe in the jaw and sent the girl flying, every member of camp drawing their weapons on the Huntresses as Chiron looked furious.

"Campers!" Chiron ordered "Strip Zoe nightshade of her weapons and take her to the cells. We will decide what to do with her later." A group of Ares campers quickly rushed to follow the order while the rest held back the other Hunters.

"What did that bitch just do Chiron?" Annabeth demanded furiously, staring at the weapon laying on the ground before it vanished and seemed to reform as a hair clip on the huntresses head.

"That sword as made from her immortal essence when she was a minor sea goddess thousands of years ago." Chiron explained angrily "But she gave it away as a gift and lost the right to claim possession of it, especially in this situation but it was still originally her power and when she knew where it was she was able to take it back."

"I'll let Percy use my sword and shield when we get him out then." Annabeth said with a scowl "And I'll take my time teaching that worm a lesson when we get back."

"You won't be the only one." Marina said with a dark look as they all loaded up onto the bus and he drove them down to D.C. where his tracking spell was telling him to go.

-Percy-

He had felt it when Riptide vanished, he had felt it when the sword's connection to him shattered and he had never felt so hollow. He had seen the Huntress have the sword appear in her hands even if he didn't know how and he had laughed, his first one since his capture, when Annabeth sent the huntress flying with a punch.

Now the bus was, from what he could tell, heading down to D.C. and even if they did nothing but drive for several hours it was at least something to show his friends were safe and to keep him from slipping into madness from his imprisonment.

Eventually they got to D.C. and spread out to look for clues but the Mirror followed the cute new girl, Bianca, as she crept after Thorne and into a closed portion of the Museum, an area filled with monsters and mercenaries as he wanted to tell her to run and get out of there but he knew she wouldn't be able to hear him.

He saw how the General created a dozen zombies from the teeth of a dragon and sent them after the quest members, the General looking right at Bianca and telling her to run as the Titan laughed maliciously, playing with his friends like a cat would with its prey. He watched as Bianca ran back to the others, meeting up with them in the Air and Space Museum but mere moments alter they were joined by the Nemean Lion.

Grover led the assault on the massive beast, swinging a dangerous looking club at the Lion's head which actually seemed to cut part of the way through the supposedly indestructible hide while Annabeth ran into another room, Bianca and the huntress fired arrows, and Thalia shot Lightning. Annabeth returned a few moments later with packets of what he could instantly recognize as space food and even with having not eaten and only gained nutrients from absorbing them for several days he would still not eat that stuff.

His honorary sister threw the food packets into the beast's roaring mouth while the Hunter of Artemis and Bianca fired their arrows into the opening, killing the beast as it dissolved into a pelt which was scooped up by Grover.

-Grover-

Grabbing the hide of the Nemean Lion he had an idea, a mad idea, but an idea none the less. Running over to a garbage can he ordered Thalia to light the trash on fire, the confused daughter of Zeus doing so hesitantly. Holding the pelt aloft he intoned "A sacrifice for Perseus Jackson." And let it drop.


	6. Chapter 6

Strength of a Leader

Chapter 6

-Percy-

A gasp ripped out past his lips as Grover dropped the pelt into the fire. The second the shining metallic hide hit the flames the blaze roared into a golden inferno, spiraling up towards the ceiling but not burning anything. At the same time, the same golden flames danced across his skin, fusing with his very being as they licked his flesh.

When the blaze finally settled down, he was gasping for air, the shock of the fire and the effect of whatever it did to him stealing all the breath from his lungs. Looking down he saw some of the more obvious effects of the sacrifice Grover made. The first was that his skin was darker, more tanned than it was before and felt tougher than it had been mere moments before. Added to that his hair was longer and he even had a beard beginning to grow, something that had most certainly _not_ been there before. The other changes that he could see right away were that his canines were longer and bigger, looking more like fangs, that he had bone like spikes growing out of his knuckles, and the weight of the sky wasn't as heavy.

"Fascinating," a voice that he hated with every fiber of his being said intrigued as he glared up at the traitorous son of Hermes "I've always wondered what would happen if a demigod received a sacrifice."

"Who asked you?" he panted, still out of breath from the change as he willed some of the water he stood in to shoot out of the pool at Luke only for it to evaporate once it left the boundary of his source of healing. After the first time he had tried using the water without tunneling Atlas had put in a second safe guard.

"Oh Percy," Luke chided, "didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"SHUT UP!" he roared furiously, the water he stood in churning and whipping about along with his fury so that he looked like he stood within a personal hurricane that never left his small circle, "You have no right to speak of her you son of a bitch!"

At his insult Luke's countenance Darkened as the traitor stomped over to him, using a spell to vanish the water causing him to drop to buckle slightly at the sudden lack of the source for his rejuvenation. "Remember this Percy," Luke hissed, the traitor grabbing a fistful of his hair "I love my mother just as dearly as you love yours so don't you ever think of insulting her again." Luke tried to punctuate the threat with a punch to his gut, tried being the imperative word. "Fuck!" Luke screamed, yelling in pain while clutching an obviously broken hand.

"Nice punch there Goldie Locks," he snarked, even as more and more sweat poured down across his face "you might bruise a butterfly with that kind of power."

Furious Luke looked ready to draw Backbiter on him before Atlas called out, "Enough!", causing both he and Luke to turn to the massive Titan. "Luke," Atlas ordered, "go eat some Ambrosia then fulfill the…errand Lord Kronos has given to you."

"Yes…Atlas…" Luke hissed out through teeth clenched in pain.

"Alright, go nurse your boo-boo princess!" he jeered at the back of the Traitor, getting another yell of pain and rage before Luke teleported away.

Chuckling Atlas refilled his pool, "You never cease to entertain me Perseus." The titan said even as he gave an involuntary sigh as his muscles healed.

"What happened to calling me Jackson?" he asked, noticing the change.

"As much as I hate to admit I have some respect for you." Atlas admitted with a shrug "You have courage, you have strength, and are a skilled warrior. I truly wish you had sided with Lord Kronos, I may very well have made you my champion had you done so." This news shocked him, Atlas, the strongest Titan warrior, his captor, the man who had been torturing him for several days, _respected_ him?

"Don't let Luke catch you saying that." He grunted as he pushed up against the sky, moving it up slightly as he adjusted his position.

"I care nothing for that irritating little worm," Atlas scowled "he believes himself to be above me and several other Titans. He acts as if he was the right hand of our Lord with the authority to match." Atlas looked off into the distance with an expression that was almost wishful "I truly wish you were in Castellan's place among our forces Perseus, you would have been an Ally I would have gladly gone into battle alongside."

"That's…surprising." He said, not at all sure how to respond to such a revelation.

"Be that as it may, Castellan had a point." Atlas continued, as if the previous little heart to heart had never happened, "This truly is fascinating."

"What is?" he grunted, "That I just had a growth spurt?"

"Allow me to educate you on the nature of sacrifices boy," Atlas said, ignoring his sarcasm, "When a mortal sacrifices to a god or a titan we get a boost in our reserves of divine power, maybe get some extra strength and stamina, a few healed wounds if we have any, but that's it. The nature of what is sacrificed determines part of the effects but not always, it is the emotional intent of the one making the sacrifice that truly matters. That is part of the reason why the Olympians have been growing weaker and weaker, you demigods don't mean it as much when you sacrifice as you resent the gods. A few of you have true love for your parents if you were lucky enough to be born to one of the gods that actually cares but most aren't that fortunate."

"Fascinating history lesson gramps." He grunted, even as he took careful note of everything being said.

"You on the other hand received a sacrifice while mortal." Atlas continued, unresponsive to his taunts, much to his ire, "This, I believe, is the cause of the more impressive result. That, and the fact that your satyr friend made the sacrifice with nothing but concern, trust, and loyalty directed at you, greatly increasing the potency of the sacrifice. As Atlas finished the impromptu lesson on Sacrifices he took note of three separate things.

The first was what he learned about what Grover did. He felt a surge of affection for his best friend, his brother in everything but blood. The fact that Grover felt such loyalty towards him, such a need to see him safe and rescued meant the world to him. If Grover put such faith in him, he'd be damned before falling short of that standard.

The second thing he noticed was that his taunts and insults weren't getting rises out of Atlas like they used to. He figured the titan was growing used to the jibes and mocking so his usual standard wasn't cutting it anymore. This just meant he'd have to be more creative.

The third thing he noticed was what scared him most of all. He realized Atlas was intelligent. Now Atlas was no genius but the titan was nowhere near the idiot he had assumed at first. Atlas was gullible but that was nowhere near as helpful as being stupid. A stupid person you could trick time and time again but a gullible person, when they realize they've been had its much harder to get them because they learn and adapt. Giving a hard, cold, look at the back of the departing titan he swore that no matter how much Atlas would adapt to keep him down he'd change as well and keep on fighting.

-Grover-

"What the Hades did you just do Grover?!" Thalia exclaimed as he watched the pillar of cold golden flames die out.

"I gave Percy a boost that will hopefully make his imprisonment easier." He snapped, his nerves wearing thin with Thalia's constant problem with Percy as well as the changes he and Annabeth had been going through.

"But that could have helped us here!" Thalia snapped.

"We had more than enough equipment with us already." He said before flipping up his club, "Now come on, we need to get the hell out of here before the Sparti show up."

"What happened to you Grover?" Thalia said, her tone sounding pained, her eyes pleading for him to go back to the way he used to be.

"I grew up Thalia," he told her seriously, "I saw my brother kidnapped, the same brother who defied a god to save me, who went to the most dangerous part of the world to save me, who fought Polyphemus singlehandedly to save me. Percy has done everything he could to help me and I won't leave him to rot." With that, he spun around, using his club to knock apart all but one of the immortal skeletons. The one he didn't he let Bianca stab to see if her underworld bloodline would allow them to be destroyed. The second he saw it burst into flames and turn to ash he ordered the retreat.

"But why? We can kill them!" Thalia demanded, as he had to practically drag her away.

"Use your brain Thalia." Annabeth snapped, "Bianca is the only one who can hurt them but she isn't as experienced as us. This means the rest of us would have to be constantly knocking apart the others while leaving one, which we'd have to weaken, before she could kill it. The mortals would have already been on their way along with an Olympus damned Titan. Better to live and fight later when the situation is in our favor." The tirade levied at the daughter of Zeus brought silence to the group as they all quickly got out of town, taking the first westbound train they could find.

**AN: This is a bit of an explanation about Percy's new abilities from the sacrifice. Firstly, it enhanced his strength further (obvious). Secondly it gave him those spiked knuckles, these are kind of like the fangs of the lion and are very hard to break but will grow back if they do so. Thirdly is the fact that he looks a little older and has a beard now (I'm picturing Dwayne Johnson in the Hercules movie). Fourth and finally his hardened skin. This isn't anywhere near the level of the Curse of Achilles but still a hell of a lot harder than human skin, about as hard as a good solid oak. He can still be hurt it will just be harder. **


End file.
